Managing Remote Vs. Office-Based Employees in the Post Covid Era: 4 Effective Ways

When you ask people to define the most prominent characteristics of the new normal that we’ve adjusted to quickly, what do you think their top three answers would be?

  • The necessity (or opportunity) to work remotely
  • The delivery apps for everything
  • The augmented reality

These emerging trends don’t have to be listed in this order. But the fact is that they’re here to stay for various reasons.

The numbers show that before the pandemic around 17% of employees have been working remotely worldwide. This number almost doubled during the Covid-19 crisis since it’s expected to soar up to 32% of remote employees by the end of this year. This shift in the perception of the ideal workplace incited business leaders to adopt more flexible work models.

Managers are aware that offering work flexibility has become a precondition for attracting top talent in the post-Covid era. However, the debate about the way remote work affects employee productivity and engagement is a critical one.

This article will try and find answers to this and other questions revolving around the future of the workplace, focusing on the benefits and roadblocks that remote and office-based employees face daily, defining the best practices for individual employees and entire teams alike.

Try to Create Workplace Balance

Businesses have been trying to adjust to changed circumstances since the Covid-19 outbreak, offering increased flexibility and autonomy to employees who started working remotely. At the same time, they had to comply with ever-changing legal guidelines and address office-based employees’ concerns regarding health and safety.

Since the situation with the pandemic is still volatile, many companies need to tackle these challenging tasks to create a balance between employees’ needs and maintain their morale and productivity high to keep their businesses afloat.

In a nutshell, you need to listen to your employees’ opinions and concerns, meeting them halfway, without abandoning effective practices that made your business grow before. This said try to create a balance between employees’ freedom to do their work when and where they want and their responsibilities to deliver quality results within set deadlines.

Promoting Trustworthy Relationships

The main reason why the majority of leaders fear going fully remote is the lack of communication and social interaction between employees, crucial for building trust, team spirit, and developing a sense of unity. It seems that many employees have become aware of the importance of the office coffee breaks and small talks, once they were deprived of them.

If you want to recreate the water cooler atmosphere in the remote work environment, try to incorporate virtual happy hours or one-on-one meetings. This may allow remote and office-based workers to get to know each other and build a bond based on similar interests, respect, and trust.

Provide Flexibility But Outline Responsibilities

Even though you may go above and beyond and provide remote work options for employees who crave it, you need to make sure that they don’t take advantage of this freedom to do things at their own pace.

You need to be clear about the fact that the increased autonomy is accompanied by increased accountability for their productivity and outcomes. To make sure that your remote employees stay on track with assigned tasks and projects, communicate and collaborate with other colleagues effectively, check in regularly and track their progress.

Once you notice that their productivity or engagement levels have dropped, have a confidential one-on-one meeting to address these issues and seek on-the-spot solutions.

The reasons for disengagement or diminished productivity can be various. Your employees may be pressured by their workload and tight deadlines, heading for burnout. Or they may need additional support because they’re struggling with some apps or practices they need to apply daily.

Once you analyze the issues together, you’ll be able to offer the most effective solutions and help your employees get back on track.

Measuring Productivity Requires Updated Practices

Keeping track of employees’ productivity and engagement is a challenging task for managers running remote teams. You need to look at productivity from a fresh perspective. You need to measure productivity by the quality of work delivered, instead of the time spent on specific tasks.

If you want additional help in tracking your employees’ productivity and their progress on ongoing tasks and projects, you should invest in a productivity tracker. This advanced tool will show you how your employees distribute their work hours, giving you a real-time presentation of their activities.

You’ll be able to see how their productivity fluctuates throughout the day, identifying peaks and troughs. Also, you’ll have a clearer picture of the apps and websites employees go to during work hours. When you analyze this collected data, you’ll get a complete performance report that you can use to give detailed feedback, offer support, and praise exceptional achievements.

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